Zeru
Zeru (是流, Zeru) was the stand-in leader of Team Rokuyukai in the Dark Tournament, and appeared to be the team leader until the real leader of the team, Chū, showed up. He is voiced by Mitsuaki Madono in the Japanese version and by Jeremy Loris in the English dub. 'Appearance' Zeru is a tall, muscular demon with broad shoulders and long, sharp ears. His hair is blond, parted down the middle, with each section spiked up at an angle. He wore a dark blue muscle shirt and khakis, as well as black boots. His blue eyes always gave a cold stare, even in the midst of battle, until it was contorted into a look of absolute terror when faced with the Dragon of the Darkness Flame technique. 'Personality' Zeru, at first glance, appeared aloof and serious which is retained for most of his appearance, until his fight with Hiei, which revealed his true character: being extremely short tempered and confident in his ability. His actions result in the deaths of whoever ignores or belittles him. He prefers quick and fiery deaths in one blow, and then insults the opponent for their weakness. When Hiei revealed his Dragon of the Darkness Flame technique, Zeru became paralyzed with fear just as the Dragon flame consumes him, his entire spirit pulled into oblivion. Zeru, unlike most C Class beings, quietly observes the opponent while putting on an act like he is at B Class level, using what he can instinctively sense from the opponent, intimidating them with his strength to get a reaction, and commenting on his teammates moves. Zeru can be seen as arrogant: the type of apparition who enjoys flaunting his powers, doing so to an extreme that results in his destroying countless demon onlookers during his match. Despite this uncaring attitude, he is compassionate enough to warn his teammate Rinku to get out of the way of Kuwabara's attack. 'Synopsis' ''Dark Tournament'' He's first seen surprising Team Urameshi by showing up in their hotel tell room along with Rinku. Zeru then taunts them saying they are no match for his team. As he leaves he uses his acute control of flames to melt a cup in half. Before Rinku stepped up to fight, Zeru unleashed powerful flames, enough to incinerate a portion of the audience. Kurama and Hiei seemed impressed, with the former telling the latter to take caution. While Roto was fighting, Rinku comments that he always uses dirty tricks, and Zeru tells him it doesn't matter what tactic he uses, as long as he wins. Surprising both Kurama and Kuwabara, Zeru steps into the ring earlier than they expected him to. Hiei comments on Zeru's control over heat energy, and smiles as he tells him of the flaws in his technique. Zeru retorts by saying he doesn't need to listen to a person with a fake eye, mocking Hiei's Jagan eye. When the round starts, Zeru throws numerous fire balls at Hiei, forcing him to run around the stadium at top speed. When Hiei insults him again, expressing his boredom with Zeru's attacks thus far, he emits a huge amount of flames and then absorbs them into his body, giving him a reddish colored body of flame. His body gains an ethereal reddish glow because of all the heat contained therein and amazingly, his control is such that he prevents his clothes from being set aflame. Now engulfed in flames, Zeru charges at Hiei and stabs him through the stomach, his arm acting for all intents and purposes like a white-hot wood poker. Then, Zeru tries to incinerate him with a massive firebomb released in the form of a punch thrown while Hiei is airborn, after which he adds insult to injury by calling Hiei a "weak thing" and telling him to rest in hell. However, Hiei stands up, surprising Zeru and putting a stop to his cocky charade. Revealing his Jagan eye, Hiei unleashes the Dragon of the Darkness Flame. Hiei tells Zeru that it cannot be controlled completely, and that he would be willing to give up his right arm to harness it. The dragon catches Zeru in its mouth and his body is completely incinerated into a black outline on the side of the stadium it landed on. Kurama later states that Hiei never intended to use the Dragon of the Darkenss Flame but to defeat Zeru's "substaintal power" Hiei had no choice. 'Techniques/Moves' *'Fire Manipulation': Zeru's power is the manipulation of heat energy. He has such control over it that he can make it appear to be a knife cut, and emitting a small bloodlust in his flames, causes a section of the stadium's spectators to be burned alive. This also gives him the ability to create flames, which he often combines to create fireballs, but Hiei comments on how sloppy Zeru's control is when compared to himself. He can also surround his fist with flames which he uses to seemingly pierce Hiei, as well as absorb flames to augment his power. **'Firing Line:' Zeru unleashes huge amounts of blistering flame that burns opponents. *'Flame Augmentation:' Zeru has the unique ability to alter his body heat by means of absorbing the massive flames he creates. He begins by releasing a massive amount of energy, allowing him to create an inferno of red-orange flames which shoot into the sky above him in a pattern reminiscent of a mushroom cloud. Subsequently, Zeru brings his palms together at chest-level in front of him, and closes his eyes to focus the blaze. The flames begin to funnel into his body in waves and his body begins to glow as his power grows. The massive increase in strength and energy gained from the fire manifests itself in Zeru's body, changing his eyes and skin to dull then a bright red. At this point his body is literally radiating heat energy, making his physical self as deadly as the fire he absorbs. Being in this state provides a boost to his physical attacks, giving them the elemental power of flame. In this state, the fireballs he throws seem to be much more lethal than before, literally engulfing an opponent in a pool of fire. 'Quotes' "Not intimidated yet?" "You've become so quiet now, too frightened to list any more of my supposed flaws?" "Actually, you're dead!".'' ''"What a weak thing, you can rest in hell!"' - Zeru after he believed he defeated 'Hiei. 'Trivia' *Zeru's name translates to "force flow". 'References' 'Navigation' Category:Characters Category:Demons Category:Male Characters Category:Middle C-Class Demons Category:Deceased Characters Category:Villains Category:Upper C-Class Demons Category:C-Class